Nonstop flight route between Kagoshima, Japan and Minot, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kagoshima Airport (KOJ), Kagoshima, Japan and Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,030 miles (or 9,705 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Kagoshima Airport and Minot Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Kagoshima Airport and Minot Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Kagoshima Airport (KOJ):

• The furthest airport from Kagoshima Airport (KOJ) is Salgado Filho International Airport (POA), which is nearly antipodal to Kagoshima Airport (meaning Kagoshima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salgado Filho International Airport), and is located 12,269 miles (19,745 kilometers) away in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kagoshima Airport (KOJ) is Miyazaki Airport (KMI), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) E of KOJ.
• Because of Kagoshima Airport's relatively low elevation of 892 feet, planes can take off or land at Kagoshima Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• In addition to being known as "Kagoshima Airport", other names for KOJ include "鹿児島空港" and "Kagoshima Kūkō".
• Kagoshima Airport (KOJ) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• Following the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81, SAC tasked the former 57th Air Division to organize the Strategic Projection Force.
• The furthest airport from Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,320 miles (16,609 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Minot International Airport (MOT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of MIB.
• Originally opened in 1957 as an Air Defense Command base, Minot AFB became a major Strategic Air Command base in the early 1960s, with both nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles and manned bombers and aerial refueling aircraft.
• The 4th Post Attack Command & Control Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD maintained several EC-135 "Looking Glass" Aircraft on an alert at MAFB for coverage of the missile squadrons as a secondary Launch Control Center.
• Renamed Aerospace Defense Command in 1968, ADC F-106 operations continued at Minot until ADC was deactivated in 1979 and became a part of Tactical Air Command as a subentity referred to as Tactical Air Command – Air Defense.
• In July 1968, the 450th Bombardment Wing and 455th Strategic Missile Wing were inactivated, being from Travis AFB, California, when jurisdiction of Travis was assumed by the Military Airlift Command and the 91st Strategic Missile Wing from Glasgow AFB, Montana, when it closed.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".